Hey guys, I am currently a senior in high school. I'll be going to college next year for an economics degree. Video games has always been a passion of mine and I would love to work in the industry. I was wondering what careers I can get with my degree. Obviously, they will be on the more "businessy" side of things. I've looked around on gamasutra (just to get a general idea), as well as this website. It seems like everyone that's hiring wants you to have 3+ years experience in the field.

Are you assuming you're going to be on the businessy side of things because of your econ degree, or because you WANT to be? I'm getting a philosophy degree, but I'm not confining myself to the philosophy-y side of things.

Also, I've heard that many companies, especially smaller ones that might not be attracting the top talent, put that "3+ years of experience" on there to discourage people who don't have too much confidence in themselves and their resume, and thus probably aren't suitable for the job. So, take that with a grain of salt. If they think you're cool, and you've got the right portfolio, you've got a shot.

I've looked around on gamasutra (just to get a general idea), as well as this website. It seems like everyone that's hiring wants you to have 3+ years experience in the field.

You don't seem to have looked more deeply than job ads. You have to understand that those job ads cost money, therefore game companies only post ads to get hard-to-find people for hard-to-fill jobs.

There are business jobs in games, but only after you've worked at one for several years are you going to find yourself in the decision-making "greenlight" meetings (assuming that's what you're interested in). There are several ways to break into the industry, and you might be surprised at the ways you will find.

Hey Joe, I think Tom's advice is right. I just saw an interview with this guy who is a games producer at a big company working his way up the business side and he says he started as a tester right out of school. It's not like you get your econ degree and then walk in making business decisions for the company. You get in at the bottom and kind of learn as you go. Here's a link to that interview: Careers in video games

Hey Joe, I think Tom's advice is right. I just saw an interview with this guy who is a games producer at a big company working his way up the business side and he says he started as a tester right out of school. It's not like you get your econ degree and then walk in making business decisions for the company. You get in at the bottom and kind of learn as you go. Here's a link to that interview: Careers in video games

Quote:

If someone walks up to you and says, “I’m not gonna be able to get this part – piece of work done on time” – as a producer you have to take that little bit of information that they just gave you and compute it in your mind and say, “OK – animator A says he can’t get this character done on time – how is that gonna affect the tasks for the rest of the week” and it’s up to the producer to be like, “hey man, this isn’t an option” or – “you gotta get it done” or “we can punt on it”.

That bolded part sums up all that is wrong with the industry and represents poor planning on the producer's part.

Quote:

I definitely recommend starting in a store – if there’s a store that’s hiring, get a job there

Starting in a store is NOT going to help you get into the developments side.

1. That bolded part sums up all that is wrong with the industry and represents poor planning on the producer's part.
2. Starting in a store is NOT going to help you get into the developments side.

1. Yeah, well, the interviewee in that link is just an associate producer who's got a lot to learn about how to get things done.
2. That's true, but having a resume without any jobs on it won't either. It's not unusual for students or raw grads to have to take non-game jobs to make a living while building the portfolio or saving up to move to a game hub.

That said, this thread was 2 months old, bumped by a spammer. A mod has removed the spam post that revived this old topic.

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Tom Sloper
Sloperama Productions
Making games fun and getting them done. www.sloperama.com